A soft groan escaped her lips as Zhao Lianyun awakened amid a wasteland of shattered bricks and rubble.
Before her eyes, currents of air churned violently, a blinding expanse of white that blotted out the sky and earth.
Her ears buzzed with a deafening roar, and her head spun with vertigo.
"What... what happened to me?"
Zhao Lianyun gasped for breath and checked her condition.
She had originally been wearing a white palace gown, her skin like snow and teeth like ivory, pure and fresh as a lily. But now her face was covered in soot, the hem of her white dress torn and tattered — barely wearable, like a refugee in the midst of famine, utterly wretched.
After checking herself, Zhao Lianyun found that she was largely unharmed, but her body had no strength at all. She felt limp and weak, her heart hollow with unease.
"What exactly happened? How did I end up like this?"
The Primordial explosion had occurred far too suddenly, and with far too much force — it had blasted Zhao Lianyun into a daze, leaving her momentarily near-amnesiac!
But soon enough, the dizziness gradually subsided and her memories returned.
A catastrophic, absolutely terrifying explosion!!
Her pupils contracted sharply. A scene from her memory surfaced — one she would surely never forget for as long as she lived.
It had been too horrifying.
Just a moment ago, she and the many Gu Immortals around her had been gazing upward in excitement at the mountain-sized Qi Skill Fruit, brimming with anticipation for Primordial Immortal Venerable's resurrection.
But in the next instant, Primordial Immortal Venerable had exploded!
Among all the Gu Immortals gazing upward in hopeful expectation, Zhao Lianyun had been positioned toward the outer edge of the crowd — yet she was still caught in the blast.
The explosion had been so violent that the entirety of Heavenly Court had been rocked by it. Zhao Lianyun naturally had no means of escape.
"Why did it suddenly explode?!" As her memories grew clearer, Zhao Lianyun's breathing involuntarily quickened.
"Unbelievable — I'm practically unscathed. Did the Love Gu protect me?"
"Wait... I need to save people!"
Her heart jolted as she realized what she ought to be doing right now.
She may have been shielded by the Love Gu, but the others didn't have a Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu like that.
Zhao Lianyun promptly set off, plunging into the billowing white currents to search for injured Gu Immortals.
Before the explosion, the Gu Immortals of Central Continent's Ten Great Ancient Sects had all been positioned on the outskirts, scattered here and there in small clusters as they gazed up at the Qi Skill Fruit. The inner perimeter had been occupied by Heavenly Court's members.
The white vapor rolled in thick as smoke. Zhao Lianyun tried numerous investigative methods, but none proved effective.
This white vapor was most likely residual energy from the Qi Skill Fruit, a lingering aftereffect of the explosion! It was saturated with Qi Path Dao Marks — hardly surprising that a mere Sixth Transformation Gu Immortal like Zhao Lianyun couldn't probe through it. Unless she could invoke the Love Gu.
But the Love Gu was not only a Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu — it was also extraordinarily special. Even Venerables found it nearly impossible to refine. Although it belonged to the Wisdom Path, even Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had yet to lay a hand on it. Instead, she had allowed the Love Gu to continue parasitizing Zhao Lianyun's body.
Zhao Lianyun had not refined the Love Gu; she had merely earned its recognition. As such, she could not activate it at will. Sometimes when she wanted it to attack, it would instead whisk her away to safety. When she wanted it to provide defense, it would instead heal her.
And every time the Love Gu flexed its power, it would take something from Zhao Lianyun in return. Sometimes that meant her very lifespan!
Zhao Lianyun pushed through the rolling white vapor, groping her way forward based on memory of the location.
After a short while, she cried out in surprise — she had found Bu Zhenzi.
When the explosion occurred, Bu Zhenzi had been standing right beside Zhao Lianyun, conversing with her.
But after the blast, both of them had been blown away from the original spot.
Nevertheless, Zhao Lianyun had been the first to find Bu Zhenzi.
His injuries were horrifying.
Half of his body had been completely blown away, leaving only fragile bones barely shielding his internal organs. And of those organs, only two remained — the rest had been obliterated into mush.
As for the other half of Bu Zhenzi's body, it had become intangible. His arms, chest, and organs all appeared as if outlined by semi-transparent threads — the form was remarkably stable, but it was no longer flesh and blood.
Zhao Lianyun wanted to help, but found herself utterly powerless.
Bu Zhenzi's injuries were far too severe!
Having half his body blown away was not the main problem — never mind that Heavenly Court had the means to regrow bones, organs, and flesh, even Spirit Affinity House itself possessed plenty of techniques for such restoration.
The crux of the matter was that a massive quantity of Qi Path Dao Marks had been seared into Bu Zhenzi's body.
His remaining half of flesh continuously emitted white vapor, and along with that vapor, what little was left of his bones and organs were dissolving into qi and dissipating.
What was keeping Bu Zhenzi alive was the other half of his body — the intangible half.
"When the explosion happened, Bu Zhenzi activated an intangibility technique. But even the intangibility technique backed by Little Unrestrained was not enough to evade that apocalyptic blast."
Zhao Lianyun deduced and speculated about the scene as it had unfolded, and let out a deep sigh, her brow creased with worry and distress.
Bu Zhenzi's intangible half was holding his life together, but it wouldn't last much longer. His intangible body was also covered in Qi Path Dao Marks, and it too was continuously dissolving into qi and fading away.
"Bu Zhenzi won't hold on for long..." Zhao Lianyun felt helpless, an ever-growing restlessness churning inside her.
She tried to wake Bu Zhenzi, but he never regained consciousness.
She couldn't even move him, fearing that the slightest disturbance might snuff out his remaining spark of life.
All she could do was temporarily leave Bu Zhenzi behind, memorize the location, and plunge back into the vast currents of white vapor to search for someone else who might help.
"Is anyone there? Please, come help me!"
Zhao Lianyun trudged through the immense expanse of white vapor.
She called out ceaselessly, all alone, as an overwhelming sense of isolation and helplessness enshrouded her entire being.